The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-05-07
SEA PEARL FISHING.
The Largest and Most Productive Fishery
stations of the World.


Ceylon, the Eastern archipelago. Aus
tralia. the lagoons of many islands in
the Pacific and TO Central America
Fresh water pearls have, as a rule, but
little luster, and are consequently of no
great value. For a while the Scotch
pearls enjoyed great reputation.
During the summer months the Arabs
carry on sort of pearl fishery on the
coast of the Red Sea. They catch the
mollusks and lay them in the sun so
that they may open quickly. The
pearl fisheries in the Persian gulf,
especially on the coasts of the island of
Bahrein, are also in the hands of the
Arabs.
The Ceylon pearl fisheries are carried
on on the west coast of Ceylon, in the
gulf of Manaar south of the island of
the same name, and also on the west
coast Of India, near Tuticorn. Ex-
pericnce has shown that few pearls,
and these of little value, come from
mussels which are not older than five
years. During the fifth and sixth year
the value doubles, and in the seventh
it becomes fourfold. The pearls are
not fully matured if they are taken
out too soon, and, on the other
hand. the animal dies if the pearls
remain too long in the shells. For
these reasons, at the Ceylon fisheries
pearl fishing is prohibited at certain
periods. In sorting the pearls they are
first passed through row of baskets,
ten or twelve in number. The eighth
basket in the row has twenty holes, and
the pearls which do not pass through
these holes are said to have the GIVEN
tieth measure" The other baskets have
80, so, so, 100, 200 400, 600, 1000
holes, etc, and each basket has its
special name. After the pearls have
been sorted in this measure they are
weighed and their value is noted.
China has pearl fisheries near Pakhol.
The Philippine Islands produce large
quantities of mother-of-pearl. The en-
tire region from the island of Tawi-
Tawi and Lulu to Baselan is one con-
tinuous bed of pearl oysters. Here the
Malays and Chinese fish in common.
The Lulu fisheries, near Tawi-Tawi, are,
according to the statement of an En-
glishman, Mr.. Moore, the largest and
most productive of all the pearl fish
.eries in the East Asiatic seas. The
pearls which are caught here have al
ways been famous, and the mother-of-
pearl is distinguished by its yellow lus-
ter, which makes it suitable for many
purposes. The most important pearl
fisheries in Queensland are in the hands
of Sydney capitalists. The fisheries are
carried on by Malays, who dive to q
depth of six fathoms. The pearl fish
cries on the northwest coast of Austria
lila employ a large number of Malays
and natives as divers. Recently the
English papers have reported the dis
'covery of pearls and mother-ef-pearl
near New Zealand.
Diving is one of the principal employ
ments for the natives OF the Pacific
Ocean. Here, likewise, mother-of-pearl
is the principal object of the fisheries
The oysters live in large colonies, close
together, and are firmly attached to
each other; they are attached to the
bottom by ligament or band, starting
from their body and running through
the shell. In the live animal this band
is of dark green, and sometimes gold
bronze color, and fishermen can tell
from its color whether the shells con-
tain pearls or not. The shells reach
their full size when they are seven years
old. When the animal has reached
maturity, it tears itself loose from the
stones, opens its shell and dies. The
shells are then covered with corals and
parasites. They become worthless and
the pearls are lost Occasionally pearls
are found loose in the shells. These
are always of a very fine quality, per-
fectly round and often very large. But
there is hardly one in a thousand oysters
which contain such pearls. The natives
often lose them, owing to the careless
way in which they open the shells. Fine
and calm weather is most favorable for
pearl fishing. The divers wear no special
suit, but simply rub their body with oil,
so the sun may not blister their skin.
They remain under the water one or
two minutes, and bring up oysters from
a depth of twenty fathoms. They rare
ly go to such depth, but the finest
oysters are found there. Thus in many
fishing grounds, which were supposed
to be exhausted, a great many pearl
oysters are found in deep water.
Besides the pearl oyster there is often
found in the lagoons of the Pacific
Ocean a kind of Venus SHE'LL which
often contains pearls of great value.
The fishermen do not look for these
pearls at all, bnt it is presumed that it
would pay to examine these shells more
systematically. In the Pacific there is
found another pearl producing mollusk,
whose shells greatly resemble those of
the common oyster. They are always
found attached to rocks, invariably one
by itself; and they are quite rare.
Their pearls are always perfectly sound,
with fine luster and gold color, OF
about the size of a pea. Y Star.
Lanru GAArrage Mia